All major science related decisions and regulations made by the government must be “based on fact, not ideology”. Those were the words given by President Obama when he overturned the Bush administration’s rulings on embryonic stem cell research.
Former President Bush passed a ruling that restricted the funding of stem cell research during his first term in 2001. Two times during his time in office, Bush vetoed bills that would have given federal funding to the research.
However, there are still some who favor Bush’s policies over Obama’s new regulations. Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, called the plan an “ideological sideshow” and criticized the Obama administration for taking on numerous policies that are to the contrary of what Bush and his cabinet previously laid out.
All of Obama’s recent decisions are all part of his desire to separate politics and science. Obama expressed that he wants to bring back integrity to the government’s scientific choices.
Unlike our previous president, Obama has been doing all he can to protect the environment and work with environmentalists to do so. Obama has already told the Environmental Protection Agency to go over a California request to manage and adjust greenhouse gases and sent the Department of Transportation to instill the fuel efficiency guidelines that were actually passed in 2008 while Bush was still in office.
Under the plans, California will be setting new emissions standards and mandating that automakers manufacture cars and trucks with better mileage. In addition, more states are likely to follow in California’s path.
Obama will also be using $500 million from his stimulus package to train workers for new green jobs that are projected to double the amount of renewable energy in the United States in three years. The overall goal is for twenty-five percent of the nation’s energy to come from renewable energy in 16 years.
Where the Bush administration failed to protect the environment and make new leaps and bounds in scientific research, the Obama administration is soaring for the betterment of the United States of America and the rest of the world.
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